Coast Guard says missing sailors found - one alive

I saw this story on Google News and clicked on it because the first line

One of two sailors who abandoned their boat in rough seas hundreds of miles off the Virginia coast was pulled to safety on a merchant ship early Monday and the body other was found soon afterward, the Coast Guard said.

[emphasis mine]
made me wonder why exactly they would "abandon" their boat. It seems like staying with the boat would be favorable to swimming around in the ocean. So, I read on and find out exactly how is was that they "abandoned" their boat, which led me to this:

Tighe activated an emergency beacon and he and Reidy were preparing a liferaft to evacaute the crew when they were washed overboard the 45-foot sailboat Almeisan be 16- to 20-foot seas, Hannum said

[emphasis mine]
Are reporters just lazy or stupid or what these days? How does being washed overboard constitute abandoning your boat?